A photo posted by natashahaddad1 (@natashahaddad1) on Jun 28, 2015 at 10:53am PDT

The huge 2015 Glastonbury Festival went down over the weekend, and it was full of surprises. Bon Iver's Justin Vernon showed up twice, once during Kanye West's set and another time during The Staves. A guest came out during Patti Smith's set too, but not a musical one: it was the Dalai Lama. Though the Foo Fighters had to drop off due to Dave Grohl's broken leg, Florence and the Machine took over their headlining set and covered "Times Like These" as a tribute to them. (Much like The Killers did for Kings of Leon at Firefly the previous weekend, after lightning cancelled the latter's set.) The Libertines showed up to play a surprise set. And Lionel Richie played a hits-filled set to a huge crowd, stretching from Commodores faves like "Brick House" to "Dancing on the Ceiling" and "All Night Long."

A pink flare lit up the sky above thousands of fans as acoustic guitars marked the introduction of 'FourFiveSeconds', and the lack of both Paul McCartney and Rihanna for that song suggested that there would be no guests during the set, but Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) was revealed to be providing backing vocals when smoke cleared during 'Lost In America' and 'Can't Hold My Liquor'. Vernon, dressed in black t-shirt and baseball cap with headphones on, was introduced by West as "one of the baddest white boys on the planet."

'Ye also led the crowd in a singalong of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" and then called himself the "greatest living rock star" on the planet during his set, which The Who mocked during theirs. He also had some pretty hilarious subtitles of his lyrics on screen during BBC's broadcast of the festival:

As for Justin Vernon's appearance with UK folk pop band The Staves, he came out to sing "Make It Holy" off their 2014 album, If I Was, which he recorded and produced at his April Base Studios in Eau Claire. Watch a video of that, and a video of Kanye's full set (via Nah Right) below.

Part of Patti Smith's reason for bringing out the Dalai Lama was his 80th birthday. NME writes:

"We are grateful to him for all his love of humanity and making people aware of the importance of saving the planet," she said, before reading a poem she had written for him. Glastonbury's Emily Eavis then bought The Dalai Lama onto the stage to huge cheers from the crowd. "I think it would be nice if Glastonbury wished The Dalai Lama a happy birthday," said Smith, before leading the audience in a rousing rendition of 'Happy Birthday'.

The Dalai Lama then blew out a single candle on a cake made of fruit, before cutting it. "Thank you, thank you," he said. "Dear brothers and sisters, I really appreciate so many people's expression of warm feeling." He then went on to joke about the age of Smith and her band. "These singers and musicians have white hair, but they look very youthful! That gives me encouragement, I should be more like you - more active!"

Video of Patti and the Dalai Lama, plus videos of the Libertimes, Florence covering the Foos, setlists and more, below...

Madonna's upcoming tour lands in NYC on September 16 & 17 at MSG and 9/19 at Barclays Center, and those three shows just got a pretty sweet opener. The very funny comedian Amy Schumer, who played NYC on her trainwreck tour earlier this week, will support Madonna at the shows. Tickets for all three are available.

Madonna also just put out a new video. It's for her song "Bitch, I'm Madonna" (ft. Nicki Minaj, prod. Diplo & SOPHIE), and it features both Nicki and Diplo, as well as Kanye West, Beyonce, Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry, Chris Rock and more. Watch below.

Kanye West wasn't billed for Coachella 2015, but it seemed impossible that he wasn't going to do something. And he did in fact show up. After The Weeknd covered "Heartless" in his set, he brought out Kanye to do four of his songs, "Can't Tell Me Nothing," "Black Skinhead," "Don't Like (Remix)," and "All Day." Watch videos, via Miss Info, below...

The 2015 Glastonbury Festival, which sold out in 25 minutes back in October, has announced it's initial lineup. In addition to Lionel Richie, which they confirmed a while back, this year will feature Patti Smith, Kanye West, Florence and the Machine, Pharell Williams, Motorhead, Alabama Shakes, The Fall, Alt-J, Suede, Fat White Family, The Chemical Brothers, GOAT, Caribou, fka twigs, George Clinton, Father John Misty, Kate Tempest, Run the Jewels, Future Islands and more.

The annual UK festival takes place June 24-28 on Worthy Farm in Pilton, Somerset, England. All announced Glastonbury 2015 performers are listed below...

Even if you haven't heard of New Jersey rapper Fetty Wap, you've probably heard his single "Trap Queen." He's not setting out to be a one hit wonder though, and today dropped a new track with the impressive team of Baauer (who probably wants to escape the one hit wonder thing himself) and Dubbel Dutch called "Promises." The track comes as a result of the Yours Truly/Adidas Songs From Scratch series, which has been responsible for collaborations between Nosaj Thing and Chance The Rapper,Shlohmo and Jeremih and many more. Check out that track below.

Fetty Wap's next show will be this week's House Party at Webster Hall (4/2), which is the weekly party's first anniversary. (He played the party in January too.) He'll be joined by Funk Flex, plus Just Blaze and the other House party regulars. Tickets are on sale.

Fetty Wap also just released a vlog centered on his performance with Kanye West at the Roc City Classic back in February. While built around the show, there's a lot of narration from Fetty about his current status and the rapper seems genuinely humble about his rise. Check it out below.

In related news, Dubbel Dutch is playing a big show at Output on Thursday (4/2) with Mike Simonetti, Peaking Lights Acid Test, and Huerco S. It's free before midnight with RSVP, or you can also buy tickets.

David Crosby was once the radical musician who pushed The Byrds in a more psychedelic direction until it resulted in his departure, and then formed one of the greatest folk rock supergroups of all time. And as Stereogum points out, yesterday the 73-year-old legend himself took to Twitter to answer questions from fans, including a lot about his opinions on other people's music.

Here's what Croz had to say about Kanye West:

"@JADoss23: @thedavidcrosby opinion on kanye's music, impact as an artist?"
Music ?.. He's an idiot and a poser....has no Talent at all

Kanye West already released "Wolves" and "Only One" from his upcoming album, which he recently said will be called So Help Me God. That's the artwork (which looks like this Christian Mistress artwork) above. He recently played a third song from it, "All Day," at the BRIT Awards and he now premiered the studio version on Power 106 and Hot 97 today. The song features Theophilus London and Allan Kingdom.

UPDATE: The official video is out now, and it's also been revealed that the song features whistling from Paul McCartney. Watch/listen below,

Madonna's new album Rebel Heart is out this week, and she's now announced an international tour in support of it. The tour begins in Miami this August and is set to wrap up in Glasgow in late December.

She'll hit NYC for two arena shows -- September 16 at Madison Square Garden and September 19 at Barclays Center -- and will also be nearby for an Atlantic City show on October 3 at Boardwalk Hall. Presales for all dates begin at her website on Tuesday (3/3) at 10 AM local time, which you'll need an Icon Live Pass for (unless you're a Lifetime Legacy Member). Tickets for the NYC shows go on sale Monday, March 9 at 10 AM with a Citi cardmember presale starting Wednesday (3/4) at 10 AM.

Rebel Heart features a handful of modern collaborators, including Kanye West, Chance the Rapper, Nicki Minaj, Diplo, Blood Diamonds, Sophie, Ariel Rechtshaid and more. Stream the song with Chance the Rapper, alongside the full list of tour dates, below...

Late last year, A$AP Ferg returned with the new mixtape Ferg Forever, a nice tide-over while we wait for the followup to his excellent Trap Lord. In the past week, he's dropped videos for two of that mixtape's tracks. The first was for "Doe-Active," directed by Spike Jordan and featuring a cameo from Vampire Weekend's Ezra Koenig, and the second was for "Dope Walk," directed by Matt Starr and featuring appearances by Kanye West, Beyonce, A$AP Rocky, Big Sean, Haim, Rihanna and Justin Bieber. Watch both below.

In related news, this Sunday (3/1) at Brooklyn Night Bazaar, A$AP Nast and A$AP Twelvyy will play a free show presented by DXC/Dunkxchange. At the show, you can buy, sell and trade sneakers and apparel. There will also be performances by GRZLXMODE and GI Dara, and music by DJ Mpure and DJ Rob Cast. Unlike most BKNB shows this one is ticketed ($15 advance, $20 at the door) and the flyer is below.

Ferg also has shows coming up, mostly in Australia and New Zealand, but also a couple US festivals including Pitchfork. All dates are listed below.

A$AP Rocky's also on board for US festival BUKU Music + Art Project happening in New Orleans on March 13 & 14 with Passion Pit, TV on the Radio, Run the Jewels, BADBADNOTGOOD & Ghostface Killah, DJ Windows 98, Die Antwoord, Flosstradamus, RL Grime, Portugal. The Man, Hudson Mohawke, iLoveMakonnen, XXYYXX, Raury, Big Freedia and more. Full lineup here. Tickets are on sale.

Big Sean's already released a handful of songs from his new album Dark Sky Paradise (due next week via G.O.O.D. Music/Def Jam), and now he's put out two more. One is the full version of his Kanye West collaboration, "All Your Fault," that he put out a 30-second clip of last week. The full version's an even huger song than that clip hinted at. Backed by dark, ornate production from Kanye, his protege Travi$ Scott and others, the song opens with an auto-tuned hook from Kanye that goes into the kind of biting verses he delivered on Yeezus. Then Sean takes over the spotlight, and finally the song ends with the two of them going back and forth. The other song he put out is a bonus track, "Research," a collaboration with his pop star girlfriend Ariana Grande. You can listen to both below.

Sean still hasn't announced a full tour, but more dates keep popping up. He's got an upstate NY show on April 12, and a NJ show April 22 at Starland Ballroom (tix on sale Friday, 2/20, at noon), so hopefully that means a NYC date is coming around that time too. All known dates are listed below.

We've already gotten a few tastes of Big Sean's new album, Dark Sky Paradise (due next week, 2/24, via G.O.O.D. Music/Def Jam), and now he's just given us two more songs. One is "One Man Can Change The World," a piano ballad with guest sung vocals from Kanye West (who's also on the great "Blessings" with Drake and the "All Your Fault" clip) and John Legend, as well as the downtempo rap of "Win Some, Lose Some" which features past collaboratorJhene Aiko. Listen to both below, along with a mix of snippets from the album.

UPDATE: Big Sean announced a few dates, including a NYC-area show happening April 22 at Starland Ballroom in NJ. Tickets for that go on sale Friday (2/20) at noon with a presale starting Thursday (2/19) at 9 AM. All currently known dates (more TBA?) are below.

In related news, Kanye collaborator Cashmere Cat (who co-produced Ye's new single "Wolves" that he just debuted at his fashion show and then performed on SNL 40) also just co-produced (with Stargate) the new single for another Kanye collaborator, Ty Dolla $ign. It's called "Drop That Kitty" and has an all-star cast of guest appearances from Charli XCX and Tinashe. They all bring their own personalities to the song: Ty in auto-tuned sung-rap mode, shouty/sassy Charli, and soulful Tinashe. Check it out below.

Cashmere Cat will be on tour soon supporting Ariana Grande, including her MSG shows on 3/20 & 3/21, and headlining his own NYC show on March 21 at Webster Hall. Tickets for that show are still available.

Tinashe is also supporting a bigger star (and Ariana Grande collaborator) on an arena tour, Iggy Azalea, including her Barclays Center show on May 7.

The Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary was a spectacle, bringing together most of the show's famous cast, guest hosts, and favorite musical guests for a three-and-a-half hour extravaganza (with commercials, and not counting the extra hour of red carpet interviews that started an hour earlier on NBC). On the musical front, Kanye West got a lot of air time, performing "Jesus Walks" (while on his back), then getting up for "Only One" and new song "Wolves" (complete with ice-blue contact lenses) with Sia in a white wig, and Vic Mensa. Class skits were revisited, and Kanye was the target of some jokes in the new "Wayne's World" segment where "Kanye, Sit Down" came in at #5 on their Top 10 List.

Sia's wig would later appear on Zach Galifianakis when he introduced new Digital Short, "That's When You Break," that starred Andy Samberg and Adam Sandler (and clips of SNL actors cracking up ["breaking"] on camera). There was also Paul McCartney, who played Irving Plaza the night before, performing "I've Just Seen a Face" with Paul Simon and then "Maybe I'm Amazed." (He was very memorably, hilariously introduced by Keith Richards.) Later in the show Simon, introduced by Jack White, would come back out for "Still Crazy After All These Years" Related: Miley Cyrus covered Simon's "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" (with Fred Armisen on invaluable tambourine, and Paul McCartney's drummer Abe Laboriel, Jr. playing as part of her band too). Miley was introduced by Win Butler and frequent guest-host Candice Bergen.

Best buds Justin Timberlake and Jimmy Fallon opened the show with a pretty impressive Beasties-style rap that chronicled the history of SNL. Later in the show Martin Short and Maya Rudolph (as Beyoncé) did a tribute to the many comedy musical sketches over the years many of whom made their return: Bill Murray's lounge singer (still great), Joe Piscopo as Frank Sinatra, Marty & Bobbi Culp (Will Ferrell & Ana Gasteyer), and The Blues Brothers (Dan Aykroyd was wearing his Crystal Skull vodka knit hat on the red carpet).

The SNL band got a big shout-out too, which saw the return of longtime guitarist G.E. Smith. Late bassist Tom "T-Bone" Wolk, who Smith played with on SNL and in Hall & Oates' band and died in 2010, was acknowledged in the "In Memoriam" segment that, hilariously, also included Jon Lovitz (who, not dead, was in the audience waving incredulously both times he was referred to as dead during the show). There was also a tribute to Tracy Morgan who is still recovering from a near-fatal car crash.

"Celebrity Jeopardy"

We got a lot of updates of classic sketches including the welcome return of "Celebrity Jeopardy," the maybe less welcome "The Californians" (with original cast member Laraine Newman, Taylor Swift> and a game Bradley Cooper who got to make out with Betty White), and Ackroyd did his famous "Bass-O-Matic" sketch again.

What else: Tina Fey and Amy Pohler did Weekend Update with Jane Curtain (and Edward Norton as Stefon and Melissa McCarthy as Chris Farley character Matt Foley); Jerry Seinfeld fielded questions from audience members Michael Douglas, John Goodman, James Franco, Larry David, Tim Meadows, Dakota Johnson and Sarah Palin; and Chris Rock paid tribute to Eddie Murphy who came out on the SNL stage for the first time in 30 years. That may have been one of the most awkward moments of the night. Everyone was hoping Eddie, who also talked to Al Roker on the red carpet in the pre-show, would perform, but that unfortunately didn't happen.

There was lots more: Steve Martin, Alec Baldwin, a sports montage, a shorts montage.... You can watch the whole thing over at NBC.com. More pictures and clips of many of the highlights, below...

Arcade Fire frontman Win Butler had a busy weekend in NYC. His eventful three days began on Friday when he played the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game at MSG. His team, The West, beat The East (which Common and others were on) 59-51. Win had eight points and 12 boards. You can watch a video of him doing a layup, below.

He was wearing his Kanye West-designed Nike Red Octobers (not to be confused with Kanye's new Adidas Yeezy 750 Boost shoe that he debuted last week). Win's brother/bandmate Will tweeted "Kanye, you have to fix this #MVP thing. They have to respect the artistry" after Kevin Hart (who returns to MSG in July) got MVP.

After the game, Win headed to Bowery Ballroom where he was one of several DJs at the Rock On Foundation benefit, as DJ Windows 98. The Hold Steady headlined. Other DJs included members of Vampire Weekend, Das Racist and Caveman. That's him at Bowery pictured above.

Then Saturday afternoon Win headed to La Colombe cafe in Hudson Square where he acted as a barista, serving his new blend of RaRa Haitian Coffee that he created in partnership with La Colombe. The blend was partially to benefit Haiti, with proceeds going to Partners In Health and Haiti Coffee Academy. We stopped by the cafe to see barista Win in action, and while we were there he jumped on a table to give a speech about how the coffee is for a good cause. He then gave out sample cups to the crowd, took pictures with fans, and signed stuff. Some pictures of that are in this post.

That night, he was back under his DJ Windows 98 guise to get a late-night party at Baby's All Right going. Anyone catch that? UPDATE: Win now uploaded a mashup of Kanye West's "Jesus Walks" and Beck's "Loser" which (according to a commenter below) he played back to back at Baby's. Listen below.

Finally, on Sunday Win headed to SNL's 40th anniversary to introduce Miley Cyrus. Some people were not happy about this decision. Here are some tweets:

Though Kanye West said the Grammy thingwas a joke ("like the Grammys themselves") and Beck was excited about it and thinks he is a genius, some Beck fans are still none too happy. As Gothamist points out, a few of those fans whose office building happens to be right outside the location in NYC that Kanye played last night took the opportunity to get their message across. Gothamist writes:

A company called PNYC, located around the corner from the stage, welcomed the rapper by putting up large letters in their windows that spelled out "BECK." This was, of course, a nod to Kanye interrupting the musician as he was about to accept his Grammy award this past weekend.

Matt and Jason from PNYC told us this morning, "We are an agency actively researching the effects of Out of Home (OOH) advertising. We found out Kanye was playing outside of our building and we wanted to make a point about being in the right place at the right time with the right message and how that can be amplified through digital channels. And... don't fuck with Beck."

Photographic proof is above.

In related news, some kind soul took the time to put together a Beck/Beyonce mashup, because obviously that was going to happen. Listen to Beckyonce's "Single Loser (Put a Beck on It)" below...

Kanye West's concert at Madison Square Park Thursday night drew in thousands of fans and spectators, despite the backlash from Flatiron community and business leaders.

A long line of concertgoers had to go through three blocks of barricaded streets to get to the free show at Flatiron Pedestrian Plaza inside Madison Square Park. The 37-year-old rapper's fans braved the freezing temperatures and the small green space and were thrilled with a big screen, bright lights and plenty of tunes.

...The packed show worried Community Board 5 and Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, who pushed the city to reconsider holding the concert at the park. Brewer said she couldn't fathom why Roc Nation, Jay Z's media company which produced the show, didn't stage the concert at a bigger outdoor space such as Times Square.

Some of the concertgoers said they had no problem with the tighter quarters of Madison Square Park, however. [AMNY]

Kanye West had a pretty eventful Thursday. Earlier in the afternoon, he debuted a new song "Wolves" at the fashion show for his new Adidas line, and then at night he played the first annual Roc City Classic at Flatiron Pedestrian Plaza, which Kevin Durant co-hosted. As you can see in the picture above, it was packed. Were you one of the people in attendance? If not, did you stream it online?

'Ye didn't play "Wolves" at the show, but he did close the set with his recent Paul McCartney collaboration "Only One." He brought out his G.O.O.D. Music pals Travi$ Scott, 2 Chainz, Pusha T and Big Sean, and did a handful of their songs too. The show opened with three Travi$ Scott/2 Chainz songs, and later on they included Big Sean's recent Kanye-featuring single, "Blessings," Sean's huge hit "I Don't Fuck With You," posse cuts "Don't Like" and "Clique," and more. He also brought out rising Paterson, NJ rapper Fetty Wap (who also opened for Meek Mill at Best Buy Theater the same night) for his buzzy "Trap Queen." "I wanna bring out a special guest. Young new artist, my favorite song out," he said. Jay Z and Beyonce must like it too, since they were in the crowd dancing to it, as you can see in a short clip below.

So far this year, Kanye West has released the Paul McCartney collaboration "Only One," the Macca/Rihanna collab, "FourFiveSeconds," and earlier today at the fashion show for his new Adidas shoe (part of the ongoing NY Fashion Week) he debuted another new song, "Wolves," featuring Sia, Vic Mensa and production by Cashmere Cat and Sinjin Hawke. It's said to be the first track on his upcoming album. Watch a video of the debut, below.

UPDATE: The full official video of the show is out now, and watchable below. "Wolves" starts at the 8:19 mark.

Kanye also appears on Big Sean"s new song, "All Your Fault," which a 30-second clip of was just released. Kanye produced it, along with Travi$ Scott (who recently expanded his tour with Young Thug). The song will appear on Big Sean's upcoming new album, Dark Sky Paradise, which is out on February 24 via G.O.O.D. Music/Def Jam. Kanye (and Drake) also appear on previous single "Blessings." Listen to that, and the "All Your Fault" clip, below.

Meanwhile, Kanye's NYC show for NBA All-Star Weekend is TONIGHT (2/12) at 8 PM outside Madison Square Park. If you didn't get in, you can stream it live. UPDATE: It happened.

You disrespect your own remarkable talents and more importantly you disrespect the talent, hard work and tenacity of all artists when you go so rudely and savagely after such an accomplished and humble artist like BECK.

You make yourself look small and petty and spoilt.

In attempting to reduce the importance of one great talent over another, you make a mockery of all musicians and music from every genre, including your own.

Grow up and stop throwing your toys around.
You are making yourself look like a complete twat.

Ps.I am pretty certain Beyonce doesn't need you fighting any battles on her account. Seems like she's got everything covered perfectly well on her own.

In related news, it's been announced that Kanye's free NYC show taking place during NBA All-Star Weekend with co-host Kevin Durant on Thursday (2/12) will stream live on Jay Z's Life + Times website, starting at 8 PM. Given last weekend's events, something tells us there may be auto-tuned explanation happening during this show.

Though Kanyestopped himself during the Grammys (much to Jay-Z and everyone's amusement), he let his opinions be known right afterwards, live on TV with Kim Kardashian by his side. Watch the E! afterparty interview below...

He's co-hosting it with OKC Thunder player (and Roc Nation Sports signee) Kevin Durant on February 12 outside of Madison Square Park at 6 PM. The only way to get in, though, is to win tickets. You can enter via co-presenters Roc Nation or Power 105.1 FM's contests or follow both onTwitter. As HipHopWired points out, you can also text "BOLDMOVE" to 95577 to win tickets from presenting partner Sparkling ICE.

That same week is Fashion Week in NYC, and Kanye will be doing something for that too. Fashionista reports that he's planning to present his upcoming Adidas collaboration in NYC that week:

West has repeatedly stated that Adidas has put trust in his talents and has given him the creative freedom he needs to truly shine -- take that, Nike -- which is why we were pretty excited when rumors started spreading around the Internet that he would be unveiling his collection for the sportswear brand with a presentation at New York Fashion Week. According to Complex, invitations to the event (which will reportedly take place on Feb. 12) have already been sent out, and the site referenced a (now-removed) Instagram screenshot of an e-mail sent to menswear buyer Ramon Ehlen as proof.

Sooner than that, he'll be in LA to perform at the Grammys with Paul McCartney and Rihanna. He's also launched a mysterious website with a countdown clock (six days and counting as of this posting, we'll see).

You probably know by now that Kanye West and Paul McCartney have teamed up not only once but twice this year, most recently for the Rihanna collaboration, "FourFiveSeconds" (also featuring Ty Dolla $ign and Dirty Projectors frontman Dave Longstreth). They've now given that song a video, directed by Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin, and you can check it out below.

As mentioned, Saturday Night Live will celebrate its 40th anniversary with a three-hour live special on February 15 (which is Sunday, by the way). Former castmember Eddie Murphy, who hasn't appeared on the show (which he doesn't have especially fond memories of) since 1984, will return for the special which also features a cavalcade of other past castmembers: Chevy Chase, Jimmy Fallon, Adam Sandler, Will Ferrell, Martin Short, Tina Fey, Molly Shannon, Mike Myers, Andy Samberg, Bill Murray, Amy Poehler, Dana Carvey, Kristen Wiig, Dan Aykroyd, Chris Rock, Garrett Morris, and Maya Rudolph.

There will aslo be lots of former SNL hosts as well, including Five Timers Club members Tom Hanks, Alec Baldwin, Paul Simon, Justin Timberlake, Christopher Walken, and Steve Martin, plus Emma Stone, John Hamm, Derek Jeter, Melissa McCarthy, Jerry Seinfeld, Robert De Niro, Jack Nicholson, Jim Carrey, Peyton Manning, Betty White and many more yet to be announced.

In addition to Timberlake and Simon, other musicians appearing on SNL 40 will be Kanye West, Paul McCartney, and Taylor Swift. The Saturday Night Live Special runs from 8 - 11 PM on 2/15. You can watch a couple of promos for the special below.

And in related news, Eddie Murphy, who has dabbled in music in the past, having scored a hit in 1985 with the Rick James-produced "Party All the Time," recently released a reggae single "Oh Jah" which you can stream below. It's not his first dip into the genre -- he released a single with Snoop Lion in 2013 and collaborated with Shabba Ranks in 1993.

As always, there's been some notable news in the hip hop community lately -- like the new N.E.R.D. songs -- and now that the holidays are behind us, we're taking this chance to round up some of the stuff we've missed. Here's some of that news, plus a few upcoming NYC shows...

As you may have heard, on New Year's Day Kanye West and Paul McCartney released a collaborative track called "Only One," which a press release calls "the first publicly available recording from what has become a prolific musical collaboration between these two legendary artists" and is sung from the perspective of Kanye's late mother. The idea of Yeezus and Sir Paul on a track together may seem more like it'd happen for the novelty of that collaboration than because they work really well together, but if you haven't listened you should check this song out. It's very good.

Onetime Kanye tour DJ A-Trak (who thinks, despite what you say, that 2014 was one of the best years for rap) reunited Dipset members Cam'ron and Juelz Santana on the single "Dipshits" in 2014, which was followed by a full Dipset set at Wu-Tang's Barclays Center show. Now, the group of Cam'ron, Jim Jones, Juelz Santana and Freekey Zekey are preparing to continue that reunion with a mixtape and a five-stop US tour this year. The plans were revealed by Funkmaster Flex on Instagram (via FACT). No tour dates announced yet, but stay tuned.

"It's really about self-esteem in black girls, I guess", says Brown. "You know how black women do so much - process their hair, change their eye colour - it's really about a little girl who does all these things to herself and changes herself and she realises she's just better off the way she is."

Brown started writing the book for his daughter, and claims that he "wants it to be real Dr. Seuss-y. The Grinch, Green Eggs And Ham, and One Fish, Two Fish - what was going on in that guy's brain to be able to write those things? I think I AM Dr. Seuss! I'm The Grinch, I'm all his characters come to life in rap music."

That should be interesting. In less positive news, Danny's fellow "1 Train" rapper Joey Bada$$ was charged with assault after allegedly punching a security guard at Australian music festival Falls Festival, Australian Broadcasting Corporation reports. The guard allegedly told police he thought Joey was an unauthorized person. After the incident went down, the guard was treated for a broken nose and other facial injuries, and Joey was arrested after the show. Pitchfork points out a representative for Joey offered an official statement reading "There was a misunderstanding with security at the Byron Falls Festival show, which resulted in charges being laid by NSW Police. After fully cooperating with Police, Joey was granted bail and entered a plea of not guilty to the charge."

In rap news that is just kind of weird, Death Grips, who are supposedly broken up, released a new instrumental album called Fashion Week that you can download for free. They also announced that their double album, The Powers That B, will actually come out as a physical release on February 10 via Harvest Records.

Now for some upcoming shows. Father, who we mentioned is opening for Theophilus London on February 16 at Bowery Ballroom (tickets), is also playing his own show on January 22 at Baby's All Right with special guests. Tickets are on sale now. His album, Young Hot Ebony, made Stereogum's 40 Best Rap Albums of 2014 list, it features iLoveMakonnen and others, and can be streamed below.

Two days earlier than that is the next 'Hot 97 Who's Next' show at SOB's (1/20) with a lineup of NJ rappers Kazzie, Dougie F., Fetty Wap and KC Bandz. Tickets are on sale now. Dougie F put out the single "Back Up On It" on Mad Decent not long ago. You can watch the video for that, with a Fetty Wap video, below.

For something more classic, Brooklyn vets Smif-n-Wessun are celebrating the 20th anniversary of their 1995 debut, Dah Shinin', on January 14 at SOB's. Tickets are on sale.

One last thing, while Run the Jewels (El-P + Killer Mike) was by far the consensus hip hop favorite of 2014 (and many critics' favorite of any genre), with duo Freddie Gibbs & Madlib trailing not far behind, it was the duo of Royce da 5'9" and DJ Premier, aka PRyme, who toppedHipHopDX's list. As discussed, PRhyme's tour hits NYC on February 22 at Highline Ballroom. Tickets for that show are still available.